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Space

Ariane 5 Deploys French Spy Satellite 51

Posted by michael from the liberty-equality-surveillance dept.
Rolo Tomasi writes "An Ariane 5 rocket successfully put the French satellite Helios 2A into orbit today. The 4.2 ton spacecraft, which cost about one billion euros, will be used for surveillance by France and other European countries."
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Ariane 5 Deploys French Spy Satellite More

Ariane 5 Deploys French Spy Satellite

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  • Includes one (1) white flag permanently affixed to outside of vehicle.

    • Don't show your ignorance (Score:4, Insightful)

      by mabu ( 178417 ) on Saturday December 18, 2004 @06:58PM (#11126770)
      Quoted from elsewhere but worthy of paraphrasing as a "pre-emptive strike" against the inevitable French-bashing that morons will engage in related to this article:

      It is so unbecoming of a country which proclaims itself as the unchallenged leader of contemporary "civilized nations" and so unthankful of a nation that punctiliously celebrates Thanksgiving every year to forget the critical role that France played in the making of the United States of America.

      For those Americans who are unaware of their history but have seen the painting of Lord Cornwallis surrendering to Gen. George Washington somewhere, sometime or viewed Mel Gibson's box office hit Patriot, both the painted masterpiece and the climax of the film resurrect the defeat and surrender of the British at the fateful Battle of Yorktown which led to the making of the United States of America.

      As it happens, in the months preceding this battle the British under Lord Cornwallis and Gen. Howe with their "death squads" had almost vanquished Gen. Washington and his motley crowd of "patriots" and subdued the two Carolinas and Virginia. Having done that, Lord Cornwallis, camped in the peninsula of Yorktown, and Gen. Howe in New York prepared for the final showdown with Gen. Washington, who was waiting on the banks of Hudson River. Gen. Rochambeau, who was with Gen. Washington, offered to march down to Virginia with his 10,000 French regulars to fight Lord Cornwallis, which they did on foot; a long and hazardous trip, to say the least. Rochambeau also sent an urgent request to the 33-vessel-strong French Fleet in the West Indies under the command of Admiral de Grasse to join the forthcoming battle in Virginia, which he did. Soon the French were blockading the entrance to Chesapeake Bay, preventing the British Fleet sent by Gen. Howe from joining this battle.

      Once he saw that defeat was inevitable, Lord Cornwallis sent one of his generals to the French General, Rochambeau, proposing surrender. Not to Gen. Washington, but to the French, because it was the French who had defeated the British. As expected, Rochambeau declined the offer and asked the British to surrender to Gen. Washington. After much negotiation Lord Cornwallis agreed and sent his sword to Washington and surrendered to the Americans.

      The Americans had finally won their Independence, but with military assistance from France, without which there would not have been a United States of America. The French did not exact any price from America for this assistance, they did it all on the principles of liberty, equality and fraternity. Two centuries later America would repay this historical debt by liberating France from Nazi Germany. In between, there was the French gift to the United States of America of the majestic Statue of Liberty.

      Fifty-seven years later Americans are demanding their pound of flesh from the French with the incumbent George Bush's "You are either with us or against us." Other princes of darkness - and there are many in America -- are crediting the President of France with dozens of qualities and the French with more character traits, all negative.

      Outside the United States there is a universal cry of vive la France! Stand up for the universal principles of liberty, equality and fraternity. These shall prevail, sooner than later.

      • Re:Don't show your ignorance (Score:2, Funny)

        by Anonymous Coward
        So.. you admit the French gave material support to a terrorist organization? Kill the French!!!
        • Not only that but two French Agents were caught blowing up the Greenpeace ship "Rainbow Warrior" in New Zealand, resulting in the death of a Norwegian foreign National. Don't worry though because these two French Terrorists were summarily sentenced to relax in New Caledonia for several years, or until one of them became pregnant forcing them both to return to France.
      • Fifty-seven years later Americans are demanding their pound of flesh from the French with the incumbent George Bush's "You are either with us or against us." Other princes of darkness - and there are many in America -- are crediting the President of France with dozens of qualities and the French with more character traits, all negative.

        So you countered French leader bashing with America leader bashing.
        • Whomever moderated this to flamebait should be prepared to be bashed by the meta-moderaters. Just because someone disagrees with you or posts an unpopular opinion does not make a post flamebait.

          "In a democracy it is safe to have an unpopular opinion." - - Curmudgeon
      • Well said. Though the spiteful anti-French sentiments mandated by the Party are, I believe, parroted only by the Proles. Most people here are faily well educated, surely, and above such jingoistic nonsense.

      • Sorry but France was still a Monarchy... (Score:2, Informative)

        by Anonymous Coward
        It's main interest was going against the Red Coats and maintaining it's Nouvelle France.

        France had it's revolution in 1789 and this is when trouble started for them as the idea of getting rid of monarchy had made the rest of Europe an ennemy of France, most of the anti French sayings heard in the UK (which you probably inherited) come from those days. Napoleon made things even worse as he had abolished the class system in both France and the territories conquered (eg: a big chunk of modern Germany) this i
      • I understand your interest in fighting French bashing, but that particular bit of cut and paste isn't all that great. Of primary importance, France's goals in aiding the colonists in the US's War of Independence was based as much on "good will" as was the US's invasion of Iraq. A better summary of the reasons for the intervention is given here http://xenophongroup.com/mcjoynt/allianc2.htm and goes as follows:

        # There was certainly a significant desire for 'revenge' -- to see the British lose in North Am

        • It is interesting to see so many Americans expose how selfish France was in reality whith its participation in the US's war of independence then explain how the USA helped France in WWII, forgetting how reluctantly they did it (they even thought Roosevelt had purposedly let the Japanese raid Pearl Harbor to drag the US in the war), more than 2 years after the beginning of the war, and only after being themselves attacked, and after Germany had declared war on them.

          Given the long history of "unselfish" Am

          • Ohh yeah, the military officers at Pearl Harbor were just waiting for the Japense to come and bomb them. Yeah they just wanted their fellow soldiers to die.

            Get a clue! Thats like saying GWB purposely let 9/11 happen.
            • Exactly. It's a crazy idea, but there was people to think so, as there is people now to think so about 9/11. And I don't need to get a clue for acknowledging their existence.
            • Not at all, there is indeed some evidence that some US diplomats^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^Hspies knew what was going to happen, but surely not the scope, and probably not the exact date and time.

              While it is definitely untrue that Roosevelt purposedly let the Japanese raid Pearl Harbor, it is also untrue that it was a complete surprise.

              Welcome to the real world. The Iraqi invasion of Kuwait wasn't a complete surprise either, nor was Argentina's invasion of the Falklands, and those are just a couple of cases that

          • I make no claim that the US's actions were any more or less self-serving than those of France. I was simply pointing out that WWI was another time when American and French interests coincided and resulted in the protection of the French homeland.

            Your comments regarding Roosevelt and Pearl Harbor are exceedingly controversial and have not been proven.

            • "Your comments regarding Roosevelt and Pearl Harbor are exceedingly controversial and have not been proven.

              Never said it was true. Just that there were people to think so. IIRC, there even was an investigation, and yes, it couldn't prove anything wrong, which is enough for me.

        • And the US helped *the Europe* (not just the France, mind you) out of pure generosity? It's been said that they refused to engage the Nazi before Pearl Harbor, which is true, but the fact that they were among the only country to have had their lands uninvaded allowed them to become the strongest economy in the world at that time - with the Marshall's Plan. And more important, if the US didn't come to Europe, Nazi would have come to them later on. Not to mention, what would they have looked like if they jus
          • And more important, if the US didn't come to Europe, Nazi would have come to them later on.

            Im not so sure that is true. While the Americans played a major part in defeating the Nazis, the Soviets too were making a major push through Europe. So if the Americans had not helped, they would not have had to face Nazis later on, but a massive Soviet Europe.
            • So true. If Hitler did not invade the Soviet Union, he would have won the war. 7 out of 8 German soldiers that died in WWII died in the campaign against the Soviets. Britan was not invaded just because Hitler wanted to take our Russia.

              Oh, and the Soviets had 50% of ALL the causulties in the war. Something like 20-25+ million Russians people died fighting Nazis. By the time US got involved, the war already turned against Hilter in Russia, it was just a mater of time.

              It might be interresting to think how

              • Hmm, I'm not sure that is true either. Hitler only invated Russia when he did becuase he thought the Western front was just a matter of time and he was bored fighting there. That was a bad misjudgement, but if, for example, he had won the battle of Britain and invaded England, freeing up a whole theatre of troops, then surely it would have been just a matter of time before the Soviets fell.

                The Soviets won mostly because they were prepared to sacrifice astronomical numbers of people. A unified Europe un

      • The French did not exact any price from America for this assistance, they did it all on the principles of liberty, equality and fraternity.

        The French did it to exact payment from Britian for the French-Indian war and various other disputes over the years. The principles of liberty, equality, and fraternity were held by the opponents of the rulers of France who cut off the ruler's heads a few years later.

        Outside the United States there is a universal cry of vive la France! Stand up for the universal prin
      • You are showing your ignorance. While the American Revolution could not have succeeded without French intervention, the allies of the French were hardly a bunch of buffoons as you portray them. Rochambeau was far from the French best officer. To credit him with the victory at Yorktown is laughable. De Grasse's fleet's intervention was essential, but the British fleet he defeated was not the main British squadron in the Americas. Howe certainly did not have Washington 'almost vanquished'. Cornwallis's campai

  • Bad article (Score:5, Informative)

    by JaxWeb ( 715417 ) on Saturday December 18, 2004 @05:49PM (#11126414) Homepage Journal
    I didn't think the article was too good. The following two are better:

    Swiss Info [swissinfo.org]

    Reuters [reuters.com]
  • I know its a spy satellite but there has to be someone or some group that can speculate on the capabilities of the sensor(s) onboard the satellite. I'd be curious to know the spectral range and resolution along with the spatial resolution.

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